The present invention relates to a foot board for a four wheeled all-terrain vehicle on which a rider's foot is rested, and a mounting structure thereof.
The four wheeled all-terrain vehicle is capable of running over off-road such as sandy land, uneven ground surface, rugged hill and muddy land including water patches for the purpose of the vehicle. Consequently, the rider is exposed to splashing of muddy water coming from the front of the vehicle or below when driving.
Therefore, a front portion of the vehicle is provided with a front fender to prevent the rider from being exposed to muddy water or the like.
The four wheeled all-terrain vehicle includes foot rests which comprise foot rest bars provided on each side of the vehicle similarly to a motor cycle so that the rider can place the arch of a foot (or shoe) thereon. A brake pedal is provided in front of one of the foot rest bars to be operated by the tip of the foot (or shoe).
Because the rider is exposed to splashing of muddy water from below, a foot board (also referred to as a floor board) having foot board members shaped as a flat plate and joined to the front fender are provided instead of the foot rest bars. In this case an opening is formed in one of the foot boards at a position corresponding to a foot-operated brake pedal so that the brake pedal is exposed through the opening and above the foot board to be operated by the tip of the foot (or shoe) placed on the foot board.
There is a variation of the configuration described above, wherein a foot rest member having a cross section of an inverted U shape is installed on the foot board in the lateral direction of the vehicle at a position corresponding to the arch of a shoe over the foot boards, in order to make it easier for the rider to secure the feet on the foot boards and improve the operability of the brake pedal (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 60-209373). That is, the foot rest member includes a cross section of inverted U shape which functions similarly to the foot rest bar and is disposed over the foot board.
In the case of the foot board type foot rest described above, in contrast to the foot rest bar type, the front end or rear end of the foot touches the foot board thereby making the foot unable to swing (rotate) back and forth freely around the foot rest member which is located over the foot board and supports the foot. Therefore it is necessary to operate the brake or support the rider's body by changing the position of the lower back(hip) of the rider's body or legs depending on the rider's riding position. Moreover, with the configuration described above, the unlimited motion of the foot on the foot board is restricted by the foot rest member of inverted U-shaped cross section protruding upward from the foot board and, depending on the rider's physique, occasionally the brake can be operated at a non-optimum foot position thus the operation of the brake is inconvenient.
Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 8, the foot board shaped flat plate of the prior art is supported from below by a support member 12a (indicated by dashed line), which is installed to connect a support frame 12 (indicated by dashed line) and a main frame 32r laterally, at a middle of the support frame 12 installed to extend in a side out direction from the main frame 32r in C shaped configuration in plan view corresponding to the external shape of the foot board 10. With this configuration, the central portion of the foot board 10 which is subject to a strong force applied from above is supported by the support member 12a.
However, an arm member 60a, which is provided integrally with the brake pedal on the backside thereof for connecting to a member of the brake-unit (not shown), is supported at the base end thereof by a pivot pin 60b to be capable of freely swinging back and forth on the main frame 32r side. Therefore the arm member 60a extending in a direction perpendicular to the support member 12a installed in the lateral direction interferes with the support member 12a in plan view. In this case, it is necessary to locate the arm member 60a connected to the brake pedal further below the support member 12a. As a result, ground clearance of the vehicle becomes smaller.